It’s Product Review Monday!
Today’s post is for the MOOV 10-in-1 Street Construction Kit.

Product reviewing can be tough. I know it sounds like a great way to try out new products, but staying focused and objective, looking at products with a critical eye, and not getting too “emotionally involved” with a product can be tough. This was definitely the case with the MOOV Building Set! Our review can be summed up in one simple word: WOW!!! We absolutely fell in love with it and had a hard time finding any faults.

Unlike other hand size building blocks or small-scale assembly kits, the MOOV building systems feature large, easy to handle pieces that kids immediately are drawn to as soon as the box is opened. They know that whatever is going to be built, is going to be impressive! The kit design features pieces that are all highly engineered, EXTREMELY well made, with precision and tight tolerances. All the parts fit together perfectly! The mix of wood, metal, plastic, foam and rubber pieces go together to make cool, colorful looking finished machines that are very sturdy. The fastener system is ingenious – no tools, screws, nails, or bolts. Simple round rubber rings and grooved rods act as “nuts and bolts”. The rods fit through the bright painted metal parts, and the CNC machined laminated plywood pieces with perfect precision. The rubber rings snug up against the wood parts to form a unitized construction frame that MOOV claims will hold over 50kg (110 lbs). This is probably very conservative for safety reasons, since we tested one vehicle with a full-grown adult that weighed about 185 lbs., and saw no damage. These things are tough!

Our youngest tester (age 7) had no problems manipulating all of the parts. The full-color, step-by-step instructions include a parts pull-list on each page. By gathering the proper parts before building, it ensures that no parts are missed during each assembly – a VERY nice touch. Text is limited to a few words, and numbers, with the majority of construction depicted by 3D CAD/CAM exploded views showing assembly of the different pieces. This assembly style promotes reading, number recognition, and counting, not to mention advanced planning skills, and increased hand/eye coordination and spatial thinking skills.

Right out of the box, our three person team of testers assembled a 3-wheeled “chopper” with no adult assistance. The three children quickly began working as a team, each working on subassemblies individually, as well as finishing major assembly steps as a team. Once they completed the chopper according to the instructions, they each took a quick test ride. Then (not surprisingly), they quickly started to disassemble, modify, and rebuild it using their own design ideas to improve and customize their creation! Very fun to watch youngsters bounce ideas off each other as they imagine what the end build needs to look like, and how parts will go together to achieve their visions.

While the price is steep, when you consider there are 10 different vehicles to build, not to mention the countless ideas kids will create on their own, the price is well worth it. Only negative was the thin foam pieces supplied for seats didn’t have enough padding for older kids – but that was easily solved with a folded towel or small pillow for extra cushioning! We highly recommend this set, and envision it will last many, many years, and provide countless hours of fun for children of all ages!!